CONECA is a hobby organization that should be more often in the public eye and have more members.

I think this every time I publish a story about a newly reported error coin. Inevitably I receive e-mails and letters asking about errors following the stories. I know this topical area is popular and these contacts just prove it.

However, to be able to properly identify errors and to collect them intelligently takes some education. CONECA, which stands for Combined Organizations of Numismatic Error Collectors of America, is an organization that can help in this process if hobbyists would take a few minutes to join.

Dues are $25 and I am sure that figure will stop most would-be joiners. It is a shame, because the learning process is not free. You either pay upfront with dues, or somewhere down the line a mistake with a purchase might cost you more than the annual dues ever would.

Yeah, I know it sounds like I am getting on my high horse, but editors are allowed that occasionally in the name of furthering the hobby educational process.

Visit www.CONECAonline.org. See what you think. The time to act is now rather than when you find that funny looking coin that might be worth 25 cents or $250. Becoming able to tell the difference is worth the effort. This is a good place to start.

About the Author David C. Harper has been a coin collector since 1963. He joined the Krause Publications editorial staff in 1978 and is currently editor of Numismatic News and World Coin News. He also edits two books annually, North American Coins & Prices and Coin Digest. He is the author of the Class of '63 column that runs each week in Numismatic News. His first bylined numismatic article appeared in the June 1971 issue of Coins Magazine and his various Krause Publications assignments included a stint as editor of the magazine 1980-1983. Harper received a bachelor of science degree from the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh in 1977. He had a double major of journalism and economics.